The Omeo District Football Netball League (ODFNL) was forced to abandon the final round fixed between Bruthen and Swan Reach for safety reasons, with fears the venue for the match – the Bruthen Recreation Reserve – would become the host of violent retribution between two families connected to the clubs.
The dispute between has allegedly been going on for several months and is being closely monitored by a number of parties, including the Victoria Police and the Bairnsdale Secondary College.
After consultation with Victoria Police, the ODFNL member clubs voted 6-0 to abandon the match after it became apparent that large groups of people were set to congregate at the venue with the purpose of fighting.
Victoria Police was unable to supply officers to attend the venue, but had suggested that they would offer regular patrols as part of their normal shifts.
The ODFNL, led by president, Ray Gallagher, was left with no choice but to abandon the match.
“The decision stemmed for a
feud in the community. Police have been excellent in advice and support. The intel provided was that they were going to use the venue as a place to sort out the dispute,” Gallagher said.
“It’s purely for safety, we just couldn’t play. It’s predominately an out of football thing and its very hard to manage.”
The ODFNL decision saw the four premiership points split between the two clubs, the decision not to play the match effectively denying the Bruthen Football Netball Club the right to play for four valuable premiership points in senior football and “B” grade netball.
The Bulldogs were positioned in fourth place on the ladder in both grades heading into the final round of matches, but were knocked out of finals contention by the fifth-ranked Buchan in both sections, who picked up four premiership points in the final round to leapfrog Bruthen who were only awarded two points.
Swan Reach have has been effected with key player Darren Allen and another likely finals starter Jesse Forrester denied the chance to play their fourth match for the season, which is the requirement to qualify for finals participation.
Allen has been a star at local level for the past decade and his non availability could be a huge setback for the Swans.
The ODFNL finals will start this week with the elimination finals being played at the Omeo Recreation Reserve. The ODFNL executive will meet later in the week to discuss the remainder of the final series and come to a decision whether a possible venue change is required for any of the matches.
It’s been a turbulent season in the ODFNL, with a match called off by umpires on May 3 (Omeo v Swan Reach) after poor behaviour by players, officials and spectators.
The June 28 match between Swan Reach and Bruthen ended in controversy with disgraceful crowd behaviour during and post the the senior match.
